Chapter 6: The Brother Nobody Was Allowed to Find
Emily read the words again in her mind.
Find your brother.
She looked at Margaret.
"Are you saying I have a brother?""
Margaret nodded.
Emily turned toward Thomas.
"Who is he?""
Thomas rubbed his forehead.
"I don't know.""
"Don't lie to me.""
"I'm not.""
"Then why did you look at that portrait as if you'd seen a ghost?""
Thomas glanced toward James.
James remained silent.
Emily stepped closer to him.
"Who is my brother?""
James finally spoke.
"I don't know where he is.""
"Then you know who he is.""
James looked down at the hospital bracelet.
"Your mother had two children. One was brought to the Whitmore estate. The other disappeared.""
Emily felt her knees weaken.
"Which one am I?""
Nobody answered.
She looked at Margaret.
The elderly woman reached for her hand and pressed it against her own chest.
Then she signed.
You.
Emily shook her head.
"That doesn't answer anything.""
Margaret tried again.
She pointed to the bracelet.
Then to Emily's wrist.
Then made a movement indicating a baby being held.
Thomas translated quietly.
"She says you're the child Sarah carried away from the hospital.""
Emily's breath caught.
"Then who was left behind?""
James looked at the floor.
"Your brother.""
Emily closed her eyes.
For twenty-six years, she had believed she was an only child.
Her mother had never mentioned another baby.
Not once.
She had never told Emily she had a brother.
Not even when they were alone on rainy evenings, looking through old photographs.
"Where is he?"" Emily asked.
James walked to the desk.
He opened the folder and removed a document.
It was an adoption record.
The name at the top was Daniel Whitmore.
Emily stared.
"Daniel?""
James nodded.
"Your brother was adopted by a family outside the state.""
Emily felt a strange sensation in her chest.
Her own brother was named Daniel.
She had grown up calling him that.
She had shared a bedroom with him.
She had helped him with homework, cooked for him, and worked extra shifts to pay for his college applications.
But this document said another Daniel had been born twenty-six years ago.
"Where was he adopted?""
James turned the page.
The record had been partially blacked out.
Only one line remained visible.
Placement authorized by Richard Whitmore.
Emily looked up.
"Why would your father arrange an adoption?""
James's expression became cold.
"Because the family needed an heir.""
Emily stared at him.
"An heir?""
"Elizabeth was supposed to inherit the family trust. After her disappearance, my father decided the baby would carry the Whitmore name.""
"Then why was he given away?""
James didn't answer.
Margaret began signing.
Thomas watched her carefully.
"She's saying the baby was never meant to leave.""
Emily turned toward her.
"Then who took him?""
Margaret pointed toward the portrait.
Then toward the photograph of Arthur Bell.
Thomas slowly understood.
"Arthur.""
Margaret nodded.
"Why would he take a newborn?""
James finally spoke.
"Because my father promised him something.""
Emily looked at him.
"What?""
James's mouth tightened.
"The position of family executor. Complete control over the estate until the child came of age.""
Thomas shook his head.
"That doesn't make sense. Arthur already had the trust.""
"Not then.""
James opened another drawer and removed a yellowed contract.
"Richard signed this two days before the hospital fire. If Elizabeth's child survived and was legally recognized, Arthur would receive a substantial financial settlement.""
Emily read the document.
There was a clause stating that the estate would be transferred to a designated heir.
But if the heir couldn't be located, the trust would remain under Arthur's control.
Emily looked up.
"So Arthur needed the baby to disappear.""
James nodded.
"Or at least remain legally unrecognized.""
Margaret began crying again.
Emily held her hand.
"Did my mother know?""
Margaret nodded.
Then she signed.
She knew.
She protected him.
Emily stared.
"She protected my brother?""
Margaret nodded.
"Then why did she raise me?""
Margaret made another sign.
Together.
Emily frowned.
Thomas translated.
"She says Sarah took both babies.""
Emily froze.
"Both?""
Margaret nodded.
"Then why did James say one was left behind?""
James looked uncomfortable.
"Because that's what my father told everyone.""
Emily's heart began racing.
"Are you saying the adoption record is false?""
Margaret nodded again.
She pointed to the paper.
Then made a sign indicating two people switching places.
Thomas whispered:
"She says the records were switched.""
Emily looked at the document.
The adoption record named Daniel Whitmore.
But the child had apparently been given another identity.
Someone had deliberately created a false trail.
"How do we find him?""
Margaret reached for the notebook.
She wrote slowly.
The boy has the other half.
Emily looked up.
"The other half of what?""
Margaret pointed to the falcon tattoo.
Then to Emily's bracelet.
Emily examined the crescent charm.
She had never noticed anything unusual about its shape.
But now she saw that the tiny falcon engraved inside the bracelet was missing something.
A small section beneath its wings.
"Is there another piece?""
Margaret nodded.
Thomas leaned closer.
"Perhaps a matching pendant.""
Margaret nodded again.
James looked toward the door.
"Mother, we need to stop.""
Margaret ignored him.
She took Emily's hand and pressed her finger against the small compartment in the bracelet.
Then she signed:
Your mother kept it.
Emily suddenly remembered the wooden jewelry box.
The black envelope.
The letter.
There had been a silver key inside.
But no matching pendant.
She reached into her handbag and pulled out the key.
Margaret shook her head.
Then she pointed toward the photograph of St. Catherine's Hospital.
Emily examined the back again.
Something was written beneath the date.
She had missed it earlier.
Room 17. Beneath the floor.
Emily looked at Thomas.
"Do you know where that room is?""
Thomas nodded slowly.
"Yes.""
James stepped forward.
"Absolutely not.""
Emily ignored him.
"What was Room 17?""
"The old neonatal ward," Thomas replied.
"It was sealed after the fire.""
"Why?""
"Because the hospital was rebuilt, and the original ward was never reopened.""
James grabbed the photograph.
"Nobody is going there.""
Emily pulled it back.
"Why are you so afraid of that room?""
"Because it's dangerous.""
"Then come with us.""
James stared at her.
For a moment, he looked almost tempted.
Then his phone rang.
He checked the screen.
His expression changed.
"Arthur.""
He answered.
"Yes?""
The voice on the other end was sharp.
"Bring the girl to the estate office immediately.""
James glanced at Emily.
"Why?""
"Because I've just received a call from the hospital archives.""
James straightened.
"What did they find?""
A long silence followed.
Then Arthur said:
"They found a photograph of the two babies. And one of them is wearing the wrong bracelet.""
James's eyes widened.
Emily stepped closer.
"Which baby?""
Arthur continued.
"Your father knew the truth all along, James.""
The call ended.
James slowly lowered his phone.
Margaret began signing frantically.
Emily watched.
Her hands moved faster than before.
She pointed toward the door.
Then toward James.
Then made a sign indicating danger.
Thomas translated.
"She says Arthur is coming.""
A car door slammed outside.
Then another.
Through the study window, Emily saw three black vehicles pulling up in front of the mansion.
A tall elderly man stepped out of the first car.
He wore a charcoal overcoat and carried a leather briefcase.
Even from a distance, his movements were calm and deliberate.
Arthur Bell.
James moved toward the door.
"Emily, go upstairs.""
She shook her head.
"Not until I know the truth.""
Arthur entered the house without waiting for anyone to open the door.
His footsteps approached the study.
Then the door swung open.
He looked at James first.
Then at Margaret.
Finally, his eyes settled on Emily.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then he smiled.
"Well," he said softly.
"Sarah's daughter has finally come home.""
Emily's stomach tightened.
"How did you know my mother?""
Arthur placed his briefcase on the desk.
"I knew Sarah very well.""
"Then you know where my brother is.""
Arthur's smile disappeared.
He glanced at the falcon tattoo.
Then he looked at Margaret.
"She shouldn't have shown you that.""
Margaret raised both hands.
Arthur ignored her.
Emily stepped forward.
"Where is he?""
Arthur slowly opened his briefcase.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed a young man standing outside a university building.
He was approximately Emily's age.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A small black falcon tattoo on his left wrist.
Emily stared.
The young man looked astonishingly like Daniel.
Her Daniel.
Arthur placed the photograph on the desk.
"Your brother has been living under a false identity for twenty-six years.""
Emily reached for the photograph.
"What's his name?""
Arthur held it down.
"Before I tell you, there's something you need to understand.""
He leaned closer.
"Your brother doesn't know he has a sister.""
Emily felt her throat tighten.
"Then tell me his name.""
Arthur looked directly into her eyes.
"Daniel Carter.""
The room went silent.
Emily's fingers went numb.
Daniel.
Her brother.
The boy sleeping on their apartment sofa.
The boy she had protected since their mother died.
The boy who had spent his entire life believing they shared the same mother.
Emily slowly turned toward James.
James looked as shocked as she felt.
Margaret began weeping.
Arthur closed the briefcase.
"Now," he said, "I suggest you go home and speak to the boy before someone else does.""
Emily stared at him.
"What are you talking about?""
Arthur's expression hardened.
"Because your brother has already been contacted by someone who knows what he really is.""
Emily's phone suddenly vibrated.
A message from Daniel appeared.
Emily, where are you?
Then another.
There's a man downstairs asking about Mom.
A third message arrived.
He says I need to come with him.
Emily's blood turned cold.
She immediately called Daniel.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then someone answered.
It wasn't her brother.
A man's voice spoke.
"Miss Carter?""
Emily gripped the phone.
"Who is this?""
The man gave a quiet laugh.
"Tell your brother that his real family is waiting.""
Then the line went dead.
Margaret suddenly began signing with frantic urgency.
Emily looked at her.
The elderly woman pointed toward the falcon tattoo.
Then toward the door.
May you like
And finally, she signed the one warning Emily understood perfectly.
*"DON'T LET THEM TAKE HIM.""*
